Bugliosi Would Seek Death Penalty for Bush

[Joanne98]

by Russell Mokhiber
If Vincent Bugliosi were prosecuting George W. Bush for the murder of the more than 4,000 American soldiers who have died in Iraq, he would seek the death penalty.”If I were the prosecutor, there is no question I would seek the death penalty,” Bugliosi told Corporate Crime Reporter in a wide-ranging interview.

Bugliosi is the author of the just published book The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder (Vanguard Press, 2008).

“I’m urging here that an American jury try George Bush for first degree murder. I want to see him on trial for murder before an American jury. And if they convict him, it will be up to the jury to decide what his punishment is. One of the options would be the imposition of the death penalty. If I were prosecuting him, absolutely I would seek the death penalty. As Governor of Texas, George Bush signed death warrants - 152 out of 152 - most of them for people who only committed one murder.”

Bugliosi said he is sending a copy of his book to all fifty state Attorneys General, offering his assistance in prosecuting Bush for homicide.

“I’m herein enclosing a copy of my book The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder,” Bugliosi writes in the letter to the Attorneys General. “I hope you will find the time to read it and that you will agree with its essential conclusion - that George W. Bush is guilty of murder for the deaths of over 4,000 American soldiers who have died fighting his war in Iraq.”

Bugliosi said he’s also meeting with a high profile California District Attorney to urge him to bring the case.

“I am going to meet here soon with a very prominent DA,” Bugliosi said. “I don’t think he is going to do it. But I do think he will give me some ideas as to who would be likely to do it. I’m going ask him to do it. My guess is he is not going to do it. But he attends DA conventions. And he may very well know someone. There may be a case where a DA or an AG lost a son over in Iraq.”

“I offer my services to help out in any way that they see fit,” Bugliosi said. “But I want to convey the thought that this is a serious thing. This is not a fanciful reverie. At my age, I don’t have time for fanciful reveries. If I had to guess what the probabilities are, my guess is that there is not a high probability of it. But I think there is a very substantial probability that George Bush, as a direct result of this book, will end up in an American courtroom being tried for murder. And the main reason that I say that is because of the great number of American prosecutors that I’ve established jurisdiction for.”

Bugliosi said that the homicide prosecution against Bush can be brought by the U.S. Attorney General, any of the U.S. Attorneys, any of the 50 state Attorneys General, or any of the hundreds of district attorneys - if a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq is from their districts.

Bugliosi says that even if the prosecution of Bush doesn’t come about for a number of years, he wants to plant in the President’s mind the idea that such a prosecution is possible.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/05/31/9328/

[tularetom]

1. I volunteer to sit on the jury

Actually this possibility poses a quandary for death penalty opponents who believe bush has committed mass murder.

Normally I don't believe in it but I'm willing to make exceptions.

[roguevalley]

5. Bugliosi for the Supreme Court. Or President. Or Special Prosecutor.

I would join you on that jury.

[ladjf]

7. I think it would be difficult to seat a jury for the Bush trial. Almost

everyone has already made up their mind about Bush's criminality.

[undeterred]

10. they'd have to seek a venue on another planet

where they haven't heard of his evildoing

[pacalo]

2. Kick (the boy king) & recommend (the death penalty).

[burythehatchet]

3. I think that I would like to hear from the families of the victims.

[DaveT]

4. Bugliosi is now a media hustler

and this grandstanding play confirms my doubts about his Kennedy book.

After being an assassination buff since the early 70s, by the start of this century I gave up on the topic. History will someday put the crime of the 20th century into some kind of perspective, but I decided to quit worrying about it.

Then came this SuperProsecutor (whose claim to fame was writing a book about sending Charles Manson up the river) to write a very long book proving that Oswald acted alone -- and I scratched my chin. Luckily the book was SO long that I had no real temptation to read it . . . and for all I know his 1600 or so pages really do prove his case against Oswald. Like I said, I decided to quit worrying about it almost a decade ago.



Yeah, Bush should be impeached and convicted. I sent money to Wexler's effort. Yeah, he ought to be prosecuted and convicted and sent to prison. But on Murder 1? Get real.


This kind of sensationalism tells you what kind of hustler you're dealing with. Have fun with it if it turns you on, but nothing serious is going on here.

[Mechatanketra]

8. Hustle? Hell, it's dirt simple to establish murder 1.

It's a straightforward application of the "felony murder rule": if one commits a felony that presents a direct, foreseeable danger to life, one can also be prosecuted for murder. If I kidnap someone, lock them in the trunk, and they suffocate themselves while trying to escape, I can be prosecuted for first degree murder even though I can claim I never intended them to die. If I run someone over while in hot pursuit by the police for a robbery, I can be charged with murder.

Just off the top of my head: conspiring "to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose" (e.g. providing cooked information to Congress) is a felony. Conspiracy to defraud the United States for the purposes of starting a war is a pretty goddamn foreseeable danger to life.

The sentence can be capped in many jurisdictions depending on whether or not the defendant directly killed, attempted to kill, or intended to kill the deceased -- the guy sitting in the getaway car for a bank robbery where someone gets shot can be charged with felony murder, but it wouldn't be a capital crime in those jurisdictions. I'm guessing that this would also apply to Bush and his co-conspirators, since the law is somewhat obligated to give them the benefit of the doubt in asserting an Utter Stupidity™ defense (i.e. "Sure, we honestly thought we'd take over the entire country without one soldier getting killed!"). But the basic principle (lie to start war = first degree murder of soldiers) is sound law.

[DaveT]

11. The logic of felony murder provided a lot of good clean fun

in law school. But I repeat, get real.

Yes, if you commit a felony and in the course of committing said felony somebody dies as a result of your crime, you can be charged and convicted of murder. It is an absurd law, as demonstrated by this law school hypothetical:

You and an accomplice commit a robbery together. The police interrupt the crime in progress and your colleague draws a gun and shoots at the cops. The cops return fire. Eventually, your accomplice despairs of his chance to escape and kills himself. You are now guilty of felony murder?

You can fill an entire hour of class time debating this application of the felony murder doctrine. Blah, blah, blah.



It is not a felony to lie. Nor is it a felony to start a stupid war -- although it is clearly an impeachable offense to lie to Congress in order to secure permission to start said stupid war.

There are also more than a few crimes that Bush could be prosecuted for in an ideal universe. But murder in the first degree is not a practical legal idea, unfortunately. Instead it is a sensational idea that will draw attention to his book . . . .

[Mechatanketra]

15. Removed n/t

[kestrel91316]

6. McCain's first act if elected (which will be done in private, if not in secret)

will be to pardon Bush and Cheney for anything and everything they've done. IMHO there's a good chance Hillary would, too. Obama, I doubt - he's actually a Democrat.

[Diclotican]

9. Joanne98

Joanne98

No death penalty, that is to easy for this ********* George Walker Bush.. A criminal court, a trial and then send to a prison, where he for every day in his miserable life should be remembered, every single day what he are in prison for.. The 12 most prominent persons in the Administration, with the President as the front person should be tried, and if find guilty put into a prison... No death penalty... That is for easy thing to do.... And the Neo-cons would never learn what they have been doing wrong if he was just been killed.. Then you might get a martyr for the extreme right... And that is not what you want are it?

No, put the criminals where their belong, behind bars... And give them information as they are been coming out for the rest of their life... Mr Bush who are in his 60 can live more than 40 year if he have the health to do it...

And I guess he would come to the "downside" where the Devil would give him the full carpet treatment when he arrive anyway, so why send him to a early grave?..

Diclotican

Sorry my bad english, not my native language

[NewJeffCT]

12. Don't believe in the death penalty, even in this case

I'd rather see him rot in jail for the rest of his life, anyhow.

[scarface2004]

13. wrote another good book 'none dare call it treason'

about the supreme court hijacking of the 2000 election...while we re at it we need to seek the death penalty for scalia and thomas for treason as well!!

[Lindsey]

14. "None Dare Call it Treason" was also named "The Betrayal of America"

and it was incredible. He's a great writer and won almost all of his cases when he was a prosecutor. He's not a grandstander. He's a true patriot who is sick to the core, like most of us are, regarding what's happened to this country. I don't believe in the death penalty but I would be happy beyond belief to see Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfield, etc. spend the rest of their lives behind bars in orange jumpsuits. They're criminals and that's where they belong.